Railroad spike



Aug. 14, 1928. L683511 o. H. WARNE RAILROAD SPIKE;

Filed June 5, 1925 Patented hug, 14,1928.

r ay e tartnoan srrrra.

Application filed June 5,

liy invention relates to railroad spikes.

The ordinary form of railroad spike hug:

a wedge-shaped end formed bytwo beveled faces meeting in an edge. nis spike, I have discovered, possesses serious objections. in

the first place, it is diliicult to start the penetration of the spike III the hard wood, usually oak, employed for railroad ties, with the result that upon the first blowof the w sledge, the spike is often dislodged and,

flying off, frequently strikes the leg of the workman who is driving'the same, with the consequences of scarred legs, torn clothes, and loss of time in replacin the sp ke. Secondly, the spike forces the :nbers of the wood ahead of it and ruptures and separates and bends downwardly the fibers on either side of its passage, leaving the grain surrounding the wood in an open and jagged condition and forining an enlarged passage and spaces into WlllCll water can readily penetrate with the consequent rotting of the Wood which in turn causes the loosening of the spike and a shorter life of the railroad tie. I

i It is the object of the present invention to overcome objections existing to the use of the present form of spike, and producing as has been discovered, the shortening of the life of the tie. The particular purpose of my invention is to obtain an easy initial penetrating action, and a clean shearing cut of the fibers, such as will permit the main body of the spike to follow the point without unduly bending and breaking the fibers and at the same time drawing action of the spike toward the rail so that the spike head will beforced over the edge of the rail.

i Vith these ends in View, my invention is embodied in preferable form in the spike hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side View in elevation looking toward the rear face of the spike, consider ing the face from Which the head of the spike projects, as the front, face;

Fig. 2, a similar view of one side of the s ike' Fig 3, a similar view of the front face of the spike; I

I Fig. 4, a cross-section on line 4 1 of Fig. 5,a cross-section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2.

permit the proper- Serial No. 35,030.

(S, a cross-section on line 66 of lteferring to the drawing, 1 indicates the main body portion of the spike which is of the standard rectangular form and stand- .ard dimensions, and indicates the head which has the usual projecting flange or hp 3 adapted to take over the rail. The spike embodying ny improvements is adapted to be made ofthe same quantity of stock as the staadard spike, the reduced penetrating and cutting end beingforined in the same forging operation by which the body of the spike is produced.

On the front face a of the spike or that face from which the projecting part 8 of the head extends, is formed a tapered portion 5, extending from a line at about threefourths of the length of the spike from the head, to the lower end of the spike. This tapered part is preferably formed with a slight curvature. The function of this surface is to create a tipping or drawing action of the spike toward and against the rail-so thatthe spike will pass toward the rail and the head lap over and grip the rail.

On the rear face of the spike, the latter is beveled or tapered off at each edge, from points beginning a considerable distance above the upper end of the tapered position 5, and continuing down to the end of the lower end of the spike. fhese beveled surfaces 6 widen gradually from their upper ends until they meet on the rear face of the spike in a common cutting edge 7. The edge 7 extends to the lower end of the spike and'then joins the lower ends of the transversely inclined edges 8 which are formed by the junction of the lower edges of the beveled surfaces 6 with the front face 1-. The meeting of the cutting edges 7 and 8, 8, forms an acutetriangularly shaped penetrating point which will effectually penetrate the wood of the tie under the starting blow and yet will enter the wood without undue bending and lateral separation of the fibers. The cutting ed 'e 7 is also curved or inclined from rear to front to increase the penetrationaction of the point.

the Wood, and Without undue rupture of the fibers. This gradual taperingef the spike is'further obtained by the extension of the beveled faces 6 to points considerably beyond the upper termination of the cutting edge 7.

The spike is adapted to be formed from stock of the same dimensions new employed for standard spikes and the cutting edges and tapers maybe. formed in'the forging operation for making the body of the spike. With the above form of spike, the long beveled or tapered faces on the rear face of the spike give an effectual penetrating action, \vhile sit-the time their cut-ting edges give a shearing out which prevents splitting and tearlng of the grain of thewo'od as the spike is driven into the tie. he location 7 of the beveled surfaces forming the cutting edges and tapering point, on the face of-the spike opposite to that face carrying the tapered siirface '5, co-opera-tes with the drawing action of the latter surface by increasing practically demonstrated;and observed in tests of the spike.

That I claim is: a A railroad spike having a head projected from one face thereof and having a lower tapered surface alongsaid face lying in a single transverse plane, the opposite face of the spike having two'bex 'eled faces-extending from points' above the upper termination of saidtapered surface, said beveled faces meeting at an exterior sharp edge, the edges of said first surface and of said other faces being tapered inward and meeting in a point at the terminatio-nof the spike, v l

In testimony whereof I afiixnay signature.

OAKLEY ii. WARNE. 

